Alberta Emergency Alert

Alberta Emergency Alert is a public warning system in Alberta that warns the public on impending or occurring emergencies affecting an area. The system was implemented in October 2011, replacing the former Alberta Emergency Public Warning System. Alerts are disseminated through various media outlets including television and radio,[1] internet,[2] social media [3][4] and an Android and iOS app.[5]

Alerts are set into two stages; an "Information Alert", in which the public is advised to be prepared for potentially life-threatening emergencies. Information Alerts do not interrupt TV and radio broadcast. A "Critical Alert" in which potentially life-threatening danger is imminent or present such as a tornado touchdown. TV and radio stations in Alberta transmit "Critical" messages from Alberta Emergency Alert. The system also broadcasts alerts in the event of an AMBER alert.

The system initially faced some criticism from the public regarding the clarity of its audio description.[6] The system's text-to-speech technology often mispronounced names of counties as well as words such as "tornado", causing difficulty for the public in understanding the alert being broadcast. In 2013, a new, male voice was implemented, which was programmed to have clearer pronunciations of various terms and place names.[7]

This system was used as an example for Alert Ready, a national emergency notification system developed by Pelmorex that also uses Common Alerting Protocol. In 2014, the CRTC mandated that all broadcasters implement the system; as AEA has compatibility with Alert Ready's format and distribution system (besides minor differences in AEA's XML schema for Common Alerting Protocol), the CRTC has considered participation in AEA to sufficiently in compliance with the national alerting mandate.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.emergencyalert.alberta.ca/content/about/alertingpartners.html
  2. ↑ http://www.emergencyalert.alberta.ca/
  3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/abemergalert
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/AB_EmergAlert
  5. ↑ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.ab.gov.aea
  6. ↑ "Digital alert system hard to decipher: critics". CBC News.
  7. ↑ "Alberta's emergency broadcast system gets new voice". CBC News.
  8. ↑ "Public Alerting Bulletin to Last Mile Distributors" (PDF). Pelmorex. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2014-444 and Broadcasting Orders CRTC 2014-445, 2014-446, 2014-447 and 2014-448". CRTC. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

External links

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